>Meeting with Afghan leadership on the heels of Wells-Janjua meeting
•By Newsroom
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be in Kabul on Friday 6th April on a one-day visit to discuss the Afghan peace process and the political and security situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) region.
Khaqan Abbasi, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah plan to discuss strengthening political, economic, security and counter-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, repatriation of Afghan refugees, combating drug production and the narcotics trade
, the Afghan peace process and the regional political and security situation. Abbasi will also meet other senior Afghan political leaders.
The visit comes on the heels of an invitation by President Ghani in response to Pakistan’s support for Ghani’s offer of peace talks with the Taliban, as well as immediately after US Ambassador for South and Central Asian Affairs Ms. Alice Wells discussed Pakistan’s commitment to the region’s peace with Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Lt Gen Nasser Janjua (retd).
Since Pakistan also wants better people-to-people contact, the PM will also discuss ways to facilitate travel between the two countries, assist education and medical treatment of Afghan nationals in Pakistan and expand trade and transit between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are participating in key trans-regional initiatives such as Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and Central Asia-South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000) to promote regional economic integration. PM Abbasi recently joined President Ghani in Herat to inaugurate the TAPI gas pipeline project. The two sides are also engaged in undertaking major bilateral rail-road connectivity projects.
Earlier this week, a Pakistani delegation of senior civilian and military officials including Director General Military Operations Maj Gen Shamshad Mirza led by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, arrived in Afghanistan to hold talks on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) with President Ghani and other Afghan officials.
